Do people go into Microsoft Teams Rooms to have meetings?
No, not really, although this assumption is natural enough. So why do we use meeting rooms?
We don’t go into meetings to have meetings. We have meetings to get things done.
The meeting itself can be seen as a culturally-accepted way for a group to, for example, sync up, engage with a topic or topics in a focused way, conduct analysis, then agree on next steps.
The concept of a meeting contains a raft of cultural assumptions. The meetings I attend are generally predicated on the values of collaboration, the assumption that everyone brings something to the table (even if just to take notes), and some kind of qualified democracy. (Yes, some people are more equal than others?! Oh yes, and which are the true ‘power positions’ at the table?!)
Why do meetings have to be one hour long? What can meeting room design do to facilitate folk using a space to get the thing done, then move on out after, say twenty-three minutes and go do something else productive, or just go for a walk to re-energise and regroup?
For meeting rooms can change behaviours - for the better and worse.
If a room has a formal purpose, why use swivel armchairs allowing a mess of distracting movement which is disrespectful to a formal agenda?
Why is lighting almost never used in a dynamic and effective way?
At the ISE show, we saw a wealth of technologies that will help make hybrid work and teaching space better. That much is true. But these technologies fit within a space. But they are not ‘the space', despite us technologists wishing that space design is framed entirely within the ‘which brand, which package’ consideration.
Such assumptions do not exist in isolation, which is why structuring meeting room standards into, for example, ‘huddle, small, medium and large’ rather than the workflows and use modes they are there to support is so widely seen.
The truth is that post-pandemic hybrid working means that every floor of every new build or refurb building project needs a fresh look at the number, size and shape of the spaces (e.g. ‘bowling alley’ or wide Front Row/telepresence or…) before we ever get started on doing our AV/UC thing.
Old habits die hard. The big opportunities in 2023 are there for those who look at meeting and teaching spaces through a different lens.
Posted: 20th February 2023